Air conditioner and control method thereof

Abstract

An air conditioner and a control method thereof perform cooling through an outlet if room temperature or room humidity is high to reduce the room temperature or the room humidity, and closing the outlet to perform cooling at low velocity through an outlet hole if room temperature or room humidity reaches a predetermined value so that a user can little feel the wind velocity of cooling of the air conditioner, while maintaining indoor space at pleasant temperature or humidity. By performing cooling at low velocity through the outlet hole formed in the lower portion of the air conditioner, it is possible to cool the lower area of indoor space at pleasant temperature when a user is asleep.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An air conditioner comprising: a housing having a front panel and a rear panel, the front panel defining a front planar exterior surface of the housing; a heat exchanger configured to heat-exchange air drawn into an inside of the housing; a fan configured to move the heat-exchanged air towards an outside of the housing; an opening formed on the front planar exterior surface of the housing and configured to discharge the heat-exchanged air from the fan to the outside of the housing through the front planar exterior surface of the housing; a door configured to move between a door opening position at which the opening opens and a door closing position at which the opening closes; a plurality of discharge holes formed on the front planar exterior surface of the housing and configured to discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside of the housing through the front planar exterior surface between an outer circumference of the opening and a circumference of the front planar exterior surface, the plurality of discharge holes and the opening being formed such that both the plurality of discharge holes and the opening formed on the front planar exterior surface are parallel to the rear panel; and a controller configured to control the discharge of the heat-exchanged air through the front planar exterior surface of the housing according to: control the door to move to the door closing position, close the opening formed on the front planar exterior surface of the housing in response to a room temperature being less than or equal to a predetermined value, and control the heat-exchanged air to discharge with a predetermined velocity by reducing a rotation of the fan, wherein, while the opening is closed by the door moved to the door closing position, the heat-exchanged air is discharged through the plurality of discharge holes between the outer circumference of the opening and the circumference of the front planar exterior surface to maintain the room temperature at the predetermined value. 
     
     
       2. The air conditioner according to  claim 1 , wherein the opening is among a plurality of openings and the door is among a plurality of doors, and
 the controller is configured to close a number of the plurality of openings by a number of doors among the plurality of doors configured to close the number of the plurality of openings to discharge the heat-exchanged air through the plurality of discharge holes, based on the room temperature being less than or equal to the predetermined value. 
 
     
     
       3. The air conditioner according to  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to reduce a speed of the fan to reduce a velocity of the air discharged through the plurality of discharge holes, based on the room temperature being less than or equal to the predetermined value. 
     
     
       4. The air conditioner according to  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to control the door to open the opening, based on the room temperature being greater than the predetermined value. 
     
     
       5. The air conditioner according to  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to increase a speed of the fan to increase a velocity of the air discharged through at least one of the opened opening and the plurality of discharge holes, based on the room temperature being greater than the predetermined value. 
     
     
       6. The air conditioner according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an input unit, electronically connected to the controller, through which a control command is received from a user for closing the opening via the door so that the heat-exchanged air is discharged through the plurality of discharge holes. 
 
     
     
       7. An air conditioner comprising: a housing having a front panel and a rear panel, the front panel defining a front planar exterior surface of the housing; a heat exchanger configured to heat-exchange air drawn into an inside of the housing of the air conditioner; a fan configured to move the heat-exchanged air towards an outside of the housing; an opening formed on the front planar exterior surface of the housing and configured to discharge the heat-exchanged air from the fan to the outside of the housing through the front planar exterior surface of the housing; a door configured to move between a door opening position at which the opening opens and a door closing position at which the opening closes; a plurality of discharge holes formed on the front planar exterior surface of the housing and configured to discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside of the housing through the front planar exterior surface between an outer circumference of the opening and a circumference of the front planar exterior surface, the plurality of discharge holes and the opening being formed such that both the plurality of discharge holes and the opening formed on the front planar exterior surface are parallel to the rear panel; and a controller configured to control the discharge of the heat-exchanged air through the front planar exterior surface of the housing according to: control the door to move to the door closing position and close the opening formed on the front planar exterior surface of the housing in response to a room humidity being less than or equal to a predetermined value, and control the heat-exchanged air to discharge with a predetermined velocity by reducing a rotation of the fan, wherein, while the opening is closed by the door moved to the door closing position, the heat-exchanged air is discharged through the plurality of discharge holes between the outer circumference of the opening and the circumference of the front planar exterior surface to maintain the room humidity at the predetermined value. 
     
     
       8. The air conditioner according to  claim 7 , wherein the opening is among a plurality of openings and the door is among a plurality of doors, and
 the controller is configured to close a number of the plurality of openings by a number of doors among the plurality of doors configured to close the number of the plurality of openings to discharge the heat-exchanged air through the plurality of discharge holes, based on the room humidity being less than or equal to the predetermined value. 
 
     
     
       9. The air conditioner according to  claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to reduce a speed of the fan to reduce a velocity of the air discharged through the plurality of discharge holes, based on the room humidity being less than or equal to the predetermined value. 
     
     
       10. The air conditioner according to  claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to control the door to open the opening, based on the room humidity being greater than the predetermined value. 
     
     
       11. The air conditioner according to  claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to increase a speed of the fan to increase a velocity of the air discharged through at least one of the opened opening and the plurality of discharge holes, based on the room humidity being greater than the predetermined value. 
     
     
       12. The air conditioner according to  claim 7 , further comprising:
 an input unit, electronically connected to the controller, through which information about the room humidity is received. 
 
     
     
       13. The air conditioner according to  claim 7 , further comprising:
 a storage unit configured to store information about a room temperature of a space in which the air conditioner is located. 
 
     
     
       14. An air conditioner comprising: a housing having a front panel and a rear panel, the front panel defining a front planar exterior surface of the housing; a heat exchanger configured to heat-exchange air drawn into an inside of the housing of the air conditioner; a fan configured to move the heat-exchanged air towards an outside of the housing; an opening formed on the front planar exterior surface of the housing and configured to discharge the heat-exchanged air from the fan to the outside of the housing through the front planar exterior surface of the housing; a door configured to move between a door opening position at which the opening opens and a door closing position at which the opening closes; a plurality of discharge holes formed on the front planar exterior surface of the housing and configured to discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside of the housing through the front planar exterior surface between an outer circumference of the opening and a circumference of the front planar exterior surface, the plurality of discharge holes and the opening being formed such that both the plurality of discharge holes and the opening formed on the front planar exterior surface are parallel to the rear panel; and a controller configured to control the discharge of the heat-exchanged air through the front planar exterior surface of the housing and to: determine whether condensation occurs in the air conditioner and to rotate the fan to discharge the heat-exchanged air through the plurality of discharge holes based on the determination that the condensation occurs while the opening is closed by the door in the closing position, and control the heat-exchanged air to discharge with a predetermined velocity by reducing a rotation of the fan. 
     
     
       15. The air conditioner according to  claim 14 , wherein the opening is among a plurality of openings,
 the fan is among a plurality of fans respectively corresponding to the plurality of openings, and 
 the controller is configured to rotate the fan among the plurality of fans to discharge the heat-exchanged air through the plurality of discharge holes between the outer circumference of the opening and the circumference of the front planar exterior surface, based on the determination that the condensation occurs. 
 
     
     
       16. The air conditioner according to  claim 14 , wherein the controller rotates the fan at predetermined time intervals. 
     
     
       17. The air conditioner according to  claim 14 , wherein the controller rotates the fan for a predetermined period. 
     
     
       18. The air conditioner according to  claim 14 , wherein the determination of whether the condensation occurs is based on a temperature of the front planar exterior surface of the housing and a temperature of air around the front planar exterior surface of the housing subsequent to lapse of a time after discharge of the heat-exchanged air through the opening stops. 
     
     
       19. The air conditioner according to  claim 14 , wherein the determination of whether the condensation occurs is based on whether a predetermined time period has lapsed once the fan stops rotating while the heat-exchanged cool air remains in the housing and thereby cools the front planar exterior surface in correspondence to a temperature of the heat-exchanged air that remains in the housing and a temperature of air around the front planar exterior surface. 
     
     
       20. The air conditioner according to  claim 14 , wherein the determination of whether the condensation occurs is based on a temperature of the front planar exterior surface of the housing being less than or equal to a dew point temperature.